Search - 2019

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 9, 2020

Japanese entrepreneur's baby monitor puts prenatal care online

Japan prides itself on having the world's lowest birth mortality rates for women and infants, but a decline in facilities staffed with obstetricians and gynecologists, as well as the advancing age of first-time mothers here, has raised growing doubts about the future of that claim.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2020

Japan-run language school that saw stock surge 1,093% last year eyes expansion

A Japan-run language school that saw its stock soar almost 12-fold last year is planning to expand into new business areas as its chief executive officer tries to keep the rally alive.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 9, 2020

Australians told to evacuate as hot weather fans fires that have left 26 people dead

Australian authorities issued new warnings and evacuation notices across the country's heavily populated southeast on Thursday as a return of hot weather fanned huge bush fires threatening several towns and communities.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 9, 2020

Alaska had record-warm year in 2019; lower 48 states had second-wettest year

Last year was Alaska's warmest year on record and the second-wettest in the contiguous United States, according to a government report on the U.S. climate released on Wednesday.
Japan Times
GLOBAL INSIGHT / Jamaica report 2020
Jan 9, 2020

A globally competitive logistics hub

The Jamaican government is implementing its plans to create an advanced and integrated infrastructure network covering air, sea, rail, road and special economic zones in order to become the fourth node in the world’s logistics chain.
Japan Times
GLOBAL INSIGHT / Jamaica report 2020
Jan 9, 2020

Developing new revenue streams from mining assets

Jamaica Bauxite Mining is ensuring that the country’s mining operations are profitable even after mineral reserves have been extracted.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jan 8, 2020

Americans increasingly critical of Trump's record on Iran, most expect war, survey finds

The American public is increasingly critical of President Donald Trump's handling of Iran after he ordered the U.S. military to kill a powerful Iranian military commander, and a majority of U.S. adults now expect the countries to be at war in the near future, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling released...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jan 7, 2020

How the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general rekindled Kim Jong Un's worst fears

With the order to kill a top Iranian general last week, U.S. President Donald Trump may have rekindled Kim Jong Un's worst fears while simultaneously cementing the North Korean leader's belief that relinquishing his nuclear arsenal would be tantamount to suicide.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 7, 2020

Possible snap election Japan's top political issue in 2020

Whether Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will call a snap election is expected to be the biggest issue in Japanese politics in 2020.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Jan 7, 2020

Let's discuss Amazon and its taxes

A Kyodo article on Amazon provides a hefty dose of business English to start the 2020s.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Jan 6, 2020

Welcoming back some video-game classics

Keita Takahashi delights gamers with Wattam; Musou Orochi gets the 'ultimate' treatment; and Brain Age has switched up a notch
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Jan 6, 2020

When American country meets Japanese anime

The lineup of artists onstage at the Tokyo premiere of 'Sturgill Simpson Presents: Sound & Fury' was as eclectic as the film they'd all made: a 41-minute anime music video set to an entire album by the Grammy-winning Simpson.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 6, 2020

After Indonesia's deadly floods, few hear climate 'wake-up call'

Floods that killed more than 60 people in Indonesia's capital after the biggest rainfall since records began should be a wake-up call to climate change in one of the world's biggest carbon emitters, environmental groups said.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2020

For the 2020s, it's time to go back to the drawing board

Like W.H. Auden in 1939, we must accept the possibility that things could become far worse than they already are.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 5, 2020

Get ready for Japan's backcountry with an avalanche safety course

Black Diamond Tours has been offering Avalanche Skills Training courses in English since 2009 to educate skiers and snowboarders on the risks when riding in Japan's backcountry.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 4, 2020

Japan's bureaucrats take top news honors in 2019

A year ago, the big news story in Japan was former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn languishing in a jail cell while the media discussed whether he should be there, thus sparking an overdue discussion about the country's so-called hostage justice system. It was a nice discussion while it lasted. 
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 4, 2020

From hangover cures to prairie dogs, tabloids end 2019 with a bang

For their final issues of December, the weeklies — their covers trimmed in gold color (except for the Sunday Mainichi, which came out in yellow-orange) — typically publish two-week bumper issues with extra pages. This gives many of them leeway to write about lots of timely topics. For instance, journalist...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Jan 4, 2020

Motoki Hirai: Spreading the power of music

As an 'artistic emissary for the Japanese government, pianist and composer Motoki Hirai travels the world to promote Japanese culture and heal hearts with music.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 4, 2020

The books and translations about Japan to watch out for in 2020

A new decade brings a whole host of translations from prize-winning Japanese authors and books about Japan, from detective fiction to geopolitical studies.
WORLD
Jan 4, 2020

Singular 'they' chosen as word of the decade in U.S.

American linguists on Friday chose "they" as their word of the decade, recognizing the growing use of third-person plural pronouns as a singular form to refer to people who identify their sex as neither entirely male nor entirely female.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jan 3, 2020

Aoyama Gakuin sets meet record in decisive victory

His final-leg runner Keigo Yuhara was still on the road running. But Aoyama Gakuin head coach Susumu Hara was already high-fiving his other athletes at the finish line in Tokyo's Otemachi district, being certain his team would be back on top.
Reader Mail
Jan 3, 2020

Abe's misdeeds continue apace

While 2019 should have been a year to celebrate the sincere efforts of rugby's bravest blossoms, it ended instead in yet another of the serial scandals of its leader's blushing blossoms.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 3, 2020

Wall Street starts 2020 at record levels on China stimulus and trade hopes

U.S. stocks extended their rally into the new year, with all three major indexes hitting record highs on Thursday, as fresh stimulus from Beijing to prop up its economy added to optimism fueled by easing trade tensions and an improving global outlook.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat